(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to low profile antennas having a built-in ground plane which provide good performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Antennas are an essential part of electronic communication systems that contain wireless links. Antenna performance is often adversely influenced by close proximity to conducting surfaces. Antennas which provide good performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface offer significant advantages for these systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,507 to Kuroda et al. describes a planar antenna comprising a ground conductor, a dielectric layer laminated on the ground conductor, and a radiation element laminated on the dielectric layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,600 to Burrell et al. describes a microstrip antenna comprising a planar antenna radiating element, a ground plane, and a dielectric material placed between the radiating antenna element and the ground plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,355,703 to Chang et al. describes a microstrip patch antenna with enhanced beamwidth characteristics. The antenna comprises a patch element and a ground plane separated from the patch element by a first dielectric layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,097 to Morchin describes a segmented phased array antenna system for scanning two different ranges of directions with a single set of antenna elements.
Antennas are an essential part of electronic systems that contain wireless links. The performance of antennas is frequently affected by the environment in which they operate such as close proximity to conductors or conducting surfaces. Environmental degradation of performance is a significant disadvantages for antennas.
It is a principal objective of this invention to provide an antenna having antenna elements formed on a single side of a layer of dielectric material which has excellent performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface.
It is another principal objective of this invention to provide an antenna having antenna elements formed on both the top surface and the bottom surface of a layer of dielectric material which has excellent performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface.
It is another principal objective of this invention to provide a method of forming an antenna having antenna elements formed on a single side of a layer of dielectric material which has excellent performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface.
It is another principal objective of this invention to provide a method of forming an antenna having antenna elements formed on both the top surface and the bottom surface of a layer of dielectric material which has excellent performance in close proximity to either a conducting or a non-conducting surface.
These objectives are achieved with a very low profile antenna that has a built-in ground plane. The antenna elements are formed by etching conducting material formed on an insulating material, such as an integrated circuit board. One set of implementations requires an insulating board with one side having a conducting material. Another set of implementations requires an insulating board with both sides having conducting materials. The antenna elements are mounted on a ground plane having a number of shorting elements between one of the antenna elements and the ground plane.